Zach Wilson – The future #2 overall pick in the NFL draft was always destined to be a Utah Ute. After all, his father was a former Utah player, his mother a lifelong Utah football fan, and most importantly Zach was raised a diehard Ute fan. There was one hitch: Kyle Whittingham had already given a scholarship offer to a higher ranked QB in Zach’s class. No offer ever came to Zach from Utah. Zach eventually settled on going to Boise State and was verbally committed there as late as December 2017. Meanwhile (prior to December 2017), BYU hadn’t shown one iota of interest in Zach and already had its own verbally committed QB in the class. To make matters worse, BYU had a super ugly season on offense and most of the offensive staff was let go in November after finishing 4-9. The offensive staff firing caused a domino effect on the verbally committed QB who was Ty Detmer’s nephew who then decommitted. Three weeks before signing day while BYU was waiting for Jeff Grimes to come aboard, an official offer to Zach was made. By some miracle, the Wilsons listened to BYU’s pitch and signed on the dotted line just three weeks after the first outreach. The rest is history.

Tyler Allgeier – The future BYU 1,000 yard rusher in 2020 was breaking all kinds of school records in high school as a running back. Despite Tyler’s best efforts, he was considered very raw and was rated as a low 2-star recruit (228th best running back out of 247 rated). With such a low recruiting ranking, he had zero offers from any FBS or FCS schools. BYU got him by simply offering a PWO spot. Now he’s on scholarship and on track to cement himself as one of the all-time greats.

Jake Oldroyd – The All-American kicker who didn’t miss a field goal in 2020 was once upon a time a very unheralded recruit with zero scholarships offers. He applied to BYU, Utah, and Utah State as a student and decided to go to BYU if he got in. In his first fall camp as a freshman PWO, he tore a meniscus in his plant leg on the 3rd day of camp. He was a complete afterthought going into the first game against Arizona and wasn’t even listed in the 2 deep. After the starting kicker missed a PAT and narrowly made a 24 yarder, the coaches decided to give the true freshman his first action. Little did they know that the chance would come with 4 seconds left in the game where he nailed a 33-yarder.

Chris Wilcox – The future NFL draft pick was committed to SUU when BYU hired Ed Lamb from SUU. Chris had zero FBS offers, but convinced BYU’s new staff that this is a recruit that BYU should pursue and he became a part of Sitake’s first class.

Neil Pau’u – BYU’s second leading returning receiver didn’t have a commitable offer from BYU in high school. He was offered by BYU way back in 2012 as a sophomore QB and committed that same year. The following season, he was beat out at QB by a future 4 star and Oregon signee. The previous staff decided to withdraw the offer from Neil and did not sign with the 2014 class as anticipated. Pau’u went on a mission instead and came back to a new coaching staff who did want to sign him as a wide receiver.

Honorable mentions:

Dax Milne – Took a PWO spot at BYU over other FBS offers. The risk paid off with getting a scholarship and leaving early for the NFL after getting drafted.

Payton Wilgar – Another PWO who was recruited by nobody. Although he had a very impressive first year, BYU had a scholarship crunch and couldn't award a scholarship. Wilgar withdrew from school, but because of attrition a scholarship became available and Wilgar re-enrolled.

James Empey – Committed to Utah before his mission. His dad was hired by BYU as a coach during his mission, so BYU was able to sign him after his mission. His dad was coincidentally let go after Empey’s redshirt season, but fortunately James stayed to become a 4 year starter.

Baylor Romney – He signed with Nevada out of HS, but during his mission the coaches turned over. Since his brother was already headed to BYU, he accepted a PWO spot for BYU. He’s now on scholarship.